Well, the second COVID-19 pandemic year is now in the books. We made it.

Last December, I couldn’t remember a time when I, and the rest of the world, were more ready to close the books on a calendar year. And with the arrival of vaccines, I was so hopeful that we’d be back to “normal” at some point during 2021.

In many ways, things were much more “normal” in 2021. Children went back to school, many workers returned to their offices, sporting events and concerts were back, and some of our favorite local festivals such as Swedish Days returned. Thankfully. We were turning the corner on the pandemic.

Or so we thought.

As I write this, COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing in Kane County and across the country. I’m having scary flashbacks to March 2020, when the whole world shut down. When our streets were empty and local businesses went dark. I don’t think any of us could’ve imagined we’d be at a similar place, as far as case numbers at the end of 2021, but here we are.

But instead of dwelling on the negative, I can appreciate the fact that we have come a long way since 2020, when many, including me, felt so hopeless. I’m much more hopeful going into 2022. We have vaccines that make COVID-19 less severe. With them, we can all help reduce the burden on our overworked, overstressed medical system.

In addition to doing our part to help loosen COVID-19′s grip on our world, can we all try to be a little kinder to each other? I’ve seen so much hate and vitriol spewed on social media over our differing views on the pandemic and its mitigations. It’s OK to disagree with one another, but is it right to belittle people or make threats just because we don’t see eye to eye on things? Let’s work on becoming more empathetic, compassionate and understanding of others as we begin this new year.

As always, thank you very much for reading the Kane County Chronicle. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2022. And hopefully this time next year, the pandemic will be in the rearview mirror.